Adding fish to the water section of Pixie tank?

[ejh805]

Hello again everyone.
Since the water feature in my pixies tank is relatively large, I've been entertaining the idea of adding 4-5 small fish. I was thinking that they could be beneficial as they'll make the tank prettier for me, and be a source of emergency food for my frog if the need ever arises.
Now, unless there are any major dangers of adding fish into the tank in which I should avoid adding them all together, the species I'm considering are Fancy Guppies, Neon Tetras, or Dalmatian Mollies. All are colorful and bright, but I just wanted to see if any members here could chime in if they've had experience with these in their frog habitats. I don't want to add anything that will be aggressive towards the frog. All of these are social group fish so I don't think that issue should come up, but I want to be sure. As always, everyone's opinions are appreciated

(Note: These photos aren't my property. They were obtained from the front page of a Google images search, and are the property of their respective owners.)

[Stumpy]

They would be eaten if the frog notices them, if your frog likes to use the water as a toilet then that would probly be bad for the fish, and fish need thier water to stay a steady tempture day and night. Also if you change your frogs water ever day or so that would be stresful on the fish ,and not to mention having the catch the fish ever time you change the water! What a hassle.

I would just avoid adding the fish all together.Actully you can add feeder fish ,they are cheap,hardy ,and can handle living in a frog toilet. i had a few in my frogs bowl ,and he would somtimes eat them. Another problem would be him hopping in ,and the feeder fish getting scared then jumping out. After they jump out he would go eat them though ,so not bad for 10 cent.

[ejh805]

Stumpy,

I only do a partial water change once a week. I have a Fluval u2 mounted on the side, and it does most of the cleaning for me.
The water area in my tank is somewhere between 5-7 gallons, and has lots of hiding spots for fish. My frog doesn't eat in the water. Usually just soaks while sitting on top of the filter. The red is circling the filter in the back. My frog sits on it and the rest of the water area basically goes completely unused.

[Wicked frogs]

I wouldn't see why not as long as they are not expensive fish. I wouldn't be surprised though if you came home and one or all fish gone one day cause it noticed something moving in it's area. Just curious how big if your tank?

[ikissedafrog]

I just did this very thing when I upsized my pixies enclosure. I have a 2.5 gal in there for his swimming and soaking pool, and added a male and 3 female guppies in along with some cabomba. I also have a small heater, which keeps the water temp steady and a filter. Filter changes and siphoning, in theory, should keep things fine for both fish and frog.

I wouldn't think mollies would be a great choice though, as they prefer brackish water and are a bit more sensitive to water conditions...not to mention they get rather large...4-5" usually. The neons, while pretty, can become pricey if your frog decides to snack on them. Guppies however, take to pretty much any water conditions and are incredibly forgiving in that aspect as well, are super pretty, super cheap and breed like rabbits! I think they are the best choice!

[DeeDub]

The frog will most likely end up eating them. Typical feeder fish are Terrible for your frog (parasites, antibiotics, and a chemical produced by fish...thiamanese?) Live bearing fish would be preferred Ive been told.

[ejh805]

Thanks everyone

I ended up getting fancy guppies- 7 females and 3 males. (2 for one sale! wohoo!) Plus a tiny little fry that the pet store worker threw in for good measure.
I added a long air stone to the water to get some more movement. The guppies seem to love the new home. There's a lot of places for them to hide, and hopefully they'll reproduce lots so the frog can have something to snack on if s/he wants. They look very pretty and I'm very excited to see how they do.

Tim- My tank overall is a 40 gallon breeder.

[GrifTheGreat]

Just for everyones benefit here. If you place the fish within the water feature of your Pyxi's enclosure and the frog enters the water it does not have to eat the fish to be infected by any parasite the fish are carrying just by sharing the water source they will be passed to the frog.

[Locascio]

Grif is rit on the money

[deranged chipmunk]

while i am a big fan of pushing the envelope, i would have quarantined the fish for 30 days or so first, if possible. remember that pet shops, no matter if they are a chain or independent use a central filtration system. what that means is that if the goldfish tank has a parasite, then you can be pretty sure that all the fish that are on that filter also have that parasite (where applicable). now, some do use multiple filtration units, but none use a separate filter for each tank. wouldn't be cost efficient. and just an fyi, guppies are NOTORIOUS for having parasites. i am good friends with several guppy breeders. now here is where i slightly disagree with Grif. not ALL parasites are transferable. the frog must be able to provide the same conditions as the fish does for it to survive. since they have different biological make ups, i would say you got a 50/50 chance whether or not a particular parasite could be transferred and make the pyxie it's new home. safer to quarantine, then dump the fish in, after a nice long acclimation.

you are running some sort of chemical filtration in the fluval, right?